Day 1 Update – Main Event Highlights Thus Far
No WSOP Gold for Jamie in 2007 (Credit: Wikipedia)
The World Series of Poker Main Event is underway. Four Day Ones have been completed…finally. A total of 6,358 players shuffled up to play in the Big One this year. This is the second biggest crew to play in the WSOP Main Event. Numbers are down from last year's 8,773 high, but…that doesn't mean the WSOP is dead. In fact, it's alive, kicking and in full swing.
Let's get to the action from each of the Day Ones of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, shall we?
Day 1 A:
1,287 folks showed up including former world champs Amarillo Slim Preston, Bobby Baldwin, Huck Seed, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. By the end of Day 1a, only Seed and Baldwin lived to fight another day. They were among the 450 who would move on to Day 2A.
Matt Jansen was the first man out of the 2007 WSOP Main Event, a distinction we're pretty sure he's not happy to have earned. His pocket Aces were cracked by George Dolorfam's Kh,Qh, which made a back-door flush on the flop. Ouch!
Andy Black and Marco Traniello were also headed for the door on Day 1A along with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and actor/comedian Ray Romano. To rub salt in Ray's wounds, his Everybody Loves Ray costar, Brad Garrett, made it to Day 2 with about 75k in chips.
By the time play ended for the night…which was well into the wee hours of the morning you can be sure of that…Tinten Olivier stood atop of the chip heap with 270,500.
Day 1B:
1,545 players took to the tables on Day 1B including Jane Gold, mom to 2006 Main Event Winner Jamie. All five former Main Event champs who began the day stayed on to fight in Day 2A. That means you'll be seeing more of Joe Hachem, Scotty Nguyen, Berry Johnston, Tom McEvoy and Dan Harrington. Richard Lee and Doug Kim also made it through. Both of these fellas sat at the final table last year so this is turning out to be a great WSOP experience for them as well.
Erik Seidel, Isabelle Mercier, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer and Annie Duke didn't fare quite so well. They were all sent packing as was actor/comedian Norm MacDonald and former internet prodigy, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo.
At the end of Day 1B, 610 folks survived. Dag Mikkelsen held the top spot with 253,000, but Scotty Nguyen is hanging tight in the top ten with 135k.
Day 1C:
This was a big day with 1,743 players. Phil Ivey, Kenna James, Vanessa Rousso, TJ Cloutier, Kristy Gazes, Clonie Gowen, Amir Vahedi and Andy Bloch had high hopes at the start of the action. Unfortunately, they'd all bid adieu to the tables well before the end of the day. Baseball player Jose Canseco and Light Heavyweight World Champion Antonio Tarver tried their hand at poker but quickly learned they didn't have the chops. Both didn't see the first dinner break.
Katja Thater, who made the final table of the Ladies Championship this year and won the Razz event, becoming the first lady to win a bracelet in an open event since Annie Duke did it in 2004, was also not able to complete the first day of play.
Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth brought beauty, brains and star power to their tables, but not much else. Both ladies left early while former Seinfeld star Jason Alexander proved that he could hang with the big boys. He made it to Day 2B.
Four of the five former Main Event champs who played Day 1C also made it to Day 2B. Brad Daugherty, Chris Moneymaker, Robert Varkonyi and Chris Ferguson survived while the 2004 champ, Greg Raymer got busted out when his open-ended straight draw remained just that, a draw.
Todd Brunson, Allen Cunningham, JC Tran, Humberto Brenes and Phil Gordon are among the professional players who are still in the hunt after Day 1C. Jeff Norman was the chip leader with 281,300,
Day 1D:
On the final day one at the 2007 WSOP, 1,783 folks showed up. Most made it on time. Unfortunately, 11-time bracelet winner and two-time Main Event champ, Phil Hellmuth, couldn't be there at the start of the action. No, he wasn't throwing a temper tantrum. The Poker Brat crashed a car while doing ad spots for UltimateBet and suffered whiplash.
Jamie Gold, the 2006 Main Event champ, was ready to play as were fellow pros Daniel Negreanu, Freddy Deeb, Ted Forrest and Barbara Enright. Barbara was inducted to the Poker Hall of Fame along with Hellmuth this summer. Enright is the first lady to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event as well. She also holds three bracelets.
Actor Hank Azaria paid to play in the world's biggest tournament as did writer/blogger Michael Craig, Paul “X22” Magriel and Cyndi Violette.
After the dinner break, one player, Vinnie Vinh, decided not to return to his table. He was lucky enough to make it to Day 2B. Unfortunately, David Benyamine, Chip Reese, Dutch Boyd and Tuan Le were among those who didn't. Poker's reigning champ, Jamie Gold, didn't make it either which means his mama outlasted him in the tournament.
Josh Evans stands in first place at the end of Day 1D with 240,000 chips.